Wellness Wednesday

Good nutrition is vital when striving to live a healthy lifestyle!

What we choose to eat today, not only affects how we feel now and into tomorrow. It also impacts our future.

The choices we make can have giant benefits. Banded together with physical activity, our diet can help us to reach and maintain a healthy body weight, reduce our risk of chronic diseases, and promote our overall health.

If you are like me, some of the hardest food choices I make are when we are out at a restaurant. It is so easy to give into the temptation of eating the large portion sizes, the fries, the greasy appetizers…the fruity drinks! But, nothing will puncture that “craving” more than remembering how I want to feel/look tomorrow! The bad decision today, is not worth it for the bad feelings tomorrow.

Here are 5 options you can choose while eating out.

You can pick and choose them. However, the more of these you choose, the better the results and the better you will feel afterwards!

Option 1: Pass on the appetizer

As of recently, my kids have fallen in love with mozzarella sticks (my secret favorite appetizer item!) It was so much easier to say, “no thank you” before the kids started asking for them. I’ve had to be strong that’s for sure! With that being said, the appetizer is the first decision we have to make when we sit down. Remember, you will have an amazing meal coming VERY SOON…do you really need something NOW? Those are just extra calories that we can easily avoid. Save it for the rest of the meal!

Option 2: Share your meal

This past week, I’ll admit, my family ate out quite a bit-totally not proud of that! But, hey-it happens! One evening, the kids were at Vacation Bible School so my husband and I decided it was a great opportunity for a date night. We needed something quick but wanted a beach sunset. So, we decided on a quick “happy hour” type meal. We went for the greasy burger but, it was a small-sized burger (the server even asked us if we were sure that’s what we wanted because it was small). Then, we even split the burger between the two of us. Boy was she surprised then! But, I’m proud of us for making that decision. Not only did I not feel as guilty for eating that burger but, it also saved us some calories and some cash!

Date night doesn’t have to mean eating too much and making decisions you will regret after you eat it!

Option 3: Choose your entrée wisely

Later in the week, we ate out as a family and I chose a turkey, tomato and avocado sandwich with a side salad. I’ll be honest, it was a bit hard to watch the kids chowing down on their fluffy pancakes. But, my meal was so satisfying and much healthier. I don’t regret it at all! In fact, I’m craving one right now!

Option 4: Limit or skip the alcohol

This is a quite simple one actually. If you don’t make a habit of having cocktails with your meal when you eat out, then it becomes normal to just order water or a tea option. Most cocktail drinks are very high in sugar which is good to avoid when you can. However, having a cocktail drink occasionally isn’t necessarily that bad. So, if you MUST have one, limit it to just one and SAVOR it. And, remember those calories DO count. So make sure you are making a good choice on the food you order to go with it.

Option 5: Share or skip the dessert

We all know that feeling of “awe, man! I’m so stuffed. I totally overdid it with this meal..but, it was sooooo good!” Just as you swear to “never do that again,” the waiter conveniently slips the dessert menu in front of you. The flowing melted chocolate topped with a cherry is sometimes just TOO ENTICING! Of course, your best option would be to just turn the menu over, pay and walk out triumphantly. However, if you are so inclined to partake in the dessert, share it with your table. More than likely, they are all fighting the urge too. Sharing it will allow you to all have a little taste of it without having to overdo it and leave feeling guilty.

Keep these tips in mind the next time you go out for dinner. I’ve been trying to order from the “healthy options” section of the menu and I’ve been enjoying the new foods it lists. It just comes to show you, when you change your eating habits, you start to crave what your body actually needs and not what your brain wants.

What are some of the choices YOU make when eating out? Have you been successful trying any that I have mentioned? I would love to hear from you!

Please like, comment and share!

With Aloha,

Lacy

Want to see how others responded to today’s Daily Word Prompt: Puncture

https://keerthanagaganna.com/2017/06/14/special-day/comment-page-1/#comment-1758

https://sbdmb.wordpress.com/2017/06/14/no-longer-a-whole/comment-page-1/#comment-5016

http://www.heavenssunshine.net/peek-a-boo-2/